A Perfect Ganesh at The Pico

The pilgrimage tradition is turned on its head when two outwardly unremarkable, middle-aged women throw themselves into a rousing tour of India, each one having her own secret dreams of what the fabled land of intoxicating opposites will do for the suffering she hides within. Margaret, an uptight example of WASP prerogative, has just discovered a lump in her breast but hasn't told her friend. More adventurous Katharine seeks a respite from the haunting of her son, Walter, and even thinks of kissing the leprous hordes of Bombay to atone for the way she rejected him and maybe, she thinks, contributed to the gay-bashing in which he died. Faced with the women's despair, who but Ganesh, the Hindu god with an elephants head, could intervene? Fluid in his power to assume any guise, at peace with all things, Ganesh is the spiritual center around which the play spins itself, drawing upon the tragic and the comic, the beautiful and the deplorable. Can Ganesh bring relief to the pain abiding within each of the womens hearts?The action of the play spans from America to India, as the narrative explores the nature of female friendships, culture clashes, racism, homophobia, trauma and loss, and our collective search for wholeness and authenticity in a chaotic world.Written by Terrence McNally. Directed by David W. Callander. Produced by Campus Cabaret.

Authors

• Terrence McNally